SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR SPORTS CREW OF FIRSTS

ByAPSeptember 14, 1992

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.
— Endeavour roared into orbit Saturday with a slew of animals and a history-making crew: first married couple in space, first black woman in space, and first Japanese to fly on a United States spaceship.

"I gotta tell ya, this is a great way to commute to work," astronaut Jay Apt said two hours into the flight.

Packed securely in the shuttle were two fish, four frogs, 180 hornets, 7,600 flies, and 30 fertilized chicken eggs, the subjects of the research mission.